Always Remembered
by NCIS-Tonyfanatic
Summary: After the explosion in 'Till Death Do Us Part', Tony and Ziva are still trapped in the elevator. Time is running out, and one of them has to make a life-or-death choice...quickly! This is my idea of what could but hopefully never will happen in the season 10 premiere. Deathfic!


**Hey everyone!**  
**Because I am so hyped up about the new episode premiering tomorrow (YAAAYYY), I decided to write my own story about what will happen. I know that my version will be competely different to the episode that will come out, but this idea has been in my head for the last 4 months, so I had to write it! Tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS. If I did, both Jenny and Kate would still be here :(**

**Spoilers: None that I can think of, please tell me if you find one! Thx:)**

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"Everybody out! Get away from the building! Out!" Ziva and Tony hurriedly ushered everyone from their offices. Tony took the right side; Ziva, the left.

"That's everyone. You go, Ziva."

"No! I'm not going without you!" She gripped his arm above his elbow and practically dragged her partner toward the stairs.

"Wait!" Tony yanked his arm away from Ziva and ran towards the elevator.

"Tony! Where are you going? We should be taking the stairs, not an elevator!" She snapped as she hurried after him, fully intent on getting him back to the stairs, even if it meant knocking him out.

"Ziva, if we take the stairs, we'll never make it out in time. If we take the elevator, we will be able to get down and direct traffic out of the building. We'll be more useful there than we would be at the back of the herd." Tony explained.

Ziva bit the inside of her lip, "Fine, but we don't tell Gibbs that we took an elevator during a bomb threat, or he will have our necks."

"Heads." Tony automatically corrected.

"What?"

"Heads. He will have our heads. Now come on!" He stepped into the open elevator and smacked the 'Ground floor' button. Ziva followed him, muttering under her breath about 'American idioms' and 'Gibbs will kill us' all the while. The elevator jerked to life as they began their descent.

Before they could make it past one floor, a massive explosion rocked the entire building, jerking the elevator violently to a stop.

Ziva, with her super ninja reflexes -as Tony called them- sprung into action as she heard the explosion. She pushed herself into Tony, knocking him to the floor as debris rained around them.

"Ziva!" Tony yelled as a large piece of the elevator ceiling dropped onto the back of her head, effectively knocking her out. He saw a small trickle of blood trickling down the side of her face from where she was hit.

He crawled out from underneath her, careful not to hurt her, as he inspected his surroundings. The elevator was full of debris; some on the floor, some still falling through the roof. He could see the elevator cable through the damaged ceiling, and his heart sank as he saw the cable begin to fray under the strain of the explosion and the weight. The cable gave a sickening creak, and Tony knew that if he didn't do something, the cable would snap and...Well, they would crash and die. The next thing he knew, he was frantically pressing the elevator buttons, wishing with all his might that the door would just OPEN! He let out a breath of relief as the doors creaked open, but just enough to fit a small person through to the next floor -the floor where Abby's lab was located-where they had thankfully been when the bomb went off. He tried pushing the doors open, he really did, but they wouldn't go any further. He could hear the cable creaking, and he looked desperately around him. There was no way they would survive the crash when the elevator cable snapped. His eyes landed on the peaceful figure of Ziva, and a new determination set in his heart.

'If I can't save both of us, then I can at least save one of us.' He thought.

Tony gathered Ziva into his arms and moved towards the door. The cable gave another sickening creak, and he gulped down his fear.

'Stay strong, DiNozzo! You gotta save Ziva!'

He reached the door and, crouching, started to maneuver Ziva feet-first through the opening and onto the floor. Luckily, she was small enough to fit through the opening.  
Just before her head moved out past the doors, Tony gave her a light kiss on her forehead, looking at her with heaviness in his heart. He knew that he would not survive the inevitable, but it made him feel a little better that he had saved the woman he cared about.

He stood up and straightened his suit, tears in his eyes, as he thought of all the wonderful memories that he had created at NCIS. Kate, Paula, Jenny, all those whom he had lost were still engraved in his memories and in his heart. He felt a little comfort that at least he would see them all again soon.

He heard a groan, and he looked down to where Ziva was lying. She was regaining consciousness, and she looked around in confusion before her eyes landed on Tony, still inside the elevator. Her eyes widened as she realized the situation and she gasped, "Tony!" and immediately got up and began to yank on the doors.

Tony gave her a weak smile and stuck his hand through the opening to let it rest on her cheek."There's nothing you can do, Ziva." He said sadly. "I'm not getting out of this one. Go and see if there is anyone still in the building."

Ziva's eyes welled up with tears. "Tony," she choked back a sob, "I cannot just leave you here! It is my fault that you are stuck in there, and I will NOT leave you!"

Tony lifted her chin so her chocolate-brown eyes stared straight into his emerald-green ones. "Ziva, NONE of this is your fault! You hear me?" he practically shouted at her, the cables creaking loudly again. "I'M the one who convinced you to get into the elevator! I'M the one who should have been thinking! I'M the one who got me into this mess! NOT. YOU! Okay? NOT. YOU!"

Tears were flowing freely down both of their faces now; they both knew what was going to happen.

"I love you, Ziva." Tony said through his tears. "I love you so. _much_. And I never got to tell you that, not until the very end. And I'm so, so sorry." The last sentence was engulfed in a choking sob, as he looked down, trying to keep a hold of himself.

Ziva felt as if she had been hit by a truck. She had stood there, with a socked expression on her face, for a few seconds before she broke down herself and started sobbing.  
"Tony," she managed to get out in between sobs, "I...I love you too!" She tried to say more, but she couldn't handle it. She fell to her knees, the ex-Mossad assassin crying as if her world was ending, which it was.

Both were so busy drowning in their emotions that they didn't notice the figure in Abby's lab getting up off the floor and dusting himself off. He immediately checked on the unconscious Goth beside him, sighing in relief as he felt a strong pulse beneath his fingertips as he pressed them to her neck.

Then he noticed the sobbing woman in the hall, and the stony silent man in the elevator. His mind wasn't working as fast and efficiently as it should have been, so he didn't realize what the situation was until a few moments later when the cable gave another dreadful creak. Gibbs, eyes widening in shock as the realization hit him, started running towards the elevator.

Tony looked up as he heard footsteps pounding toward him, and saw Gibbs suddenly standing in front of the elevator. His eyes were full of fear and his features etched with worry. He also had a few cuts and scratches due to his proximity to the bomb when it detonated; other than that, he looked…well...awful.

"Hey, Boss." Tony croaked out with a weak smile.

"DiNozzo..." Gibbs started, until the sound of the cable screeched in their ears, sounding very much like something that was dying a slow and painful death.

Tony gave out a small sigh and looked Gibbs straight in the eyes. "Look, Boss. I...I know that I'm not getting out of this one. And just before you ask me as to whose stupid idea it was to take an elevator during a bomb threat, it was me. I know it was dumb thing to do, but I wanted to help the others when  
they got to the ground floor, instead of being held up at the back of the herd."

Tony gulped visibly, looking down. When he looked back up, there were tears in his eyes.  
"I just wanna tell you, Gibbs, that...that you were the best boss, mentor, friend, and..." Tony tried hard to keep his emotions under control, "...and the best father that I ever could have had. Thank you, Gibbs, for everything."

Gibbs had tears in his eyes as he reached his hand through the opening in the door, and patted Tony's cheek affectionally.  
"And thank you, Tony, for being the best son I could have asked for. I'm proud of you, Tony, I have always been proud of you. And I'm sorry for not always showing it."

Tony gave him a weak smile.  
"You did show it, Boss. I noticed. And I'm grateful for it, Boss, I really am. Thank you."

The elevator gave a sudden jerk downwards, and Tony looked up to Gibbs, his eyes full of fright and hopelessness.  
"Gibbs, you have to go and find everyone and get them out! Now! Take Ziva with you! Go! You don't need to be here when," Tony paused in his hurried sentence before continuing in a softer voice, "...when I...when the cable snaps."

"NO!" Ziva jumped up and tried to squeeze herself through the opening, but Gibbs caught her and held her back. "I won't leave you!" she cried desperately, tears streaming down her face.

"Please, Gibbs," Tony asked in a soft voice, "Go. Go now. The others need you. There's nothing more you can do here. Promise me that you'll go help the others." his eyes were full of pleading.

Gibbs pressed his lips into a thin line as he nodded, his eyes never leaving Tony's.

"I promise, son." He started walking backwards towards Abby's lab, still dragging a sobbing Ziva.

There was the sound of a snapping cable and, for a brief moment, time stopped. Tony's sad, frightened eyes met Ziva's then Gibbs' one last time before the cable snapped. A blood-curdling scream burst through Ziva's lips as she tried to yank herself from Gibbs' grip.

"TONY! NO!"

Tony braced himself for the inevitable impact, his life flashing before his eyes. He saw his mother, Kate, Jenny, and Paula standing before him, all dressed in white and looking beautiful and peaceful. They beckoned to him, their arms outstretched, as Tony gave one last smile.

A second later, a loud crash came from the elevator shaft.

Gibbs squeezed his eyes shut as he held a sobbing Ziva to his chest, trying to control the tears falling from his own eyes. His heart breaking at the loss of another child.

The loud crash had awakened Abby, who was surprised to see the usually stone-faced Gibbs and the ex-Mossad assassin crying into each other's arms. It took her a moment to remember the bomb, and to realize that something was wrong.  
"Gibbs? Ziva? What's wrong?" She questioned nervously. "Is everyone okay? What was that crash?"

"Abby," Gibbs cleared his throat before continuing, "that crash...the elevator cable snapped and it fell."

"Yeah? So?" Abby looked confused before realization dawned on her. "Oh no. Someone was in there, right? Who was it Gibbs!? WHO WAS IT!?" she yelled demandingly, her eyes full of worry and fear.

Gibbs took a moment to compose himself before he told her.  
"Abs, I'm sorry, but...but-"

"WHO?!"

"Tony."

Abby took a sharp intake of breath. The answer was short, but that one word was enough to completely shatter Abby's heart. Tony, her big brother, was dead. Her eyes filled with tears as she felt herself being pulled into a hug.

"Tony...no." she whimpered in between sobs.  
"How...why was he in there?" she whispered to Gibbs, who was holding both Ziva and Abby tightly to him.

Ziva answered before Gibbs could.  
"We were both in the elevator when the bomb went off." she said in a heartbroken tone. "The elevator jerked to a stop, and I was knocked out. Tony managed to get the doors open, but it was not wide enough for anyone but me to fit through. He had just gotten me through the doors when I woke up, and a few minutes later, Gibbs arrived. Then the..the-" her voice wavered and fresh tears sprung up in her eyes, but she forced herself to carry on. "-and that is when the cable snapped."

Abby was now sobbing into Gibbs' shirt as she pulled Ziva into her free arm. The trio sat on the floor of Abby's lab, huddling together, crying quietly.

And that was how McGee found them. His expression going from relief of finding them alive, to his eyes widening with horror as he realized that one of the team was missing from the circle.  
"Tony. Where...what..." he started, but he suddenly felt the urge to sit down to try and control the awful feeling in his stomach.  
Gibbs sighed sadly as he retold the story to the junior agent. McGee looked devastated at the loss of his friend, brother, and mentor. Tears sprang into his eyes, and Ziva and Abby pulled him into a hug between them.

And that is where the four of them sat until their rescue. All remembering the good times with Tony, and all mourning the loss of their dearest friend, brother, mentor, and son.

Always remembered, Never forgotten. Forever engraved  
in the hearts and minds of those whose lives he had touched.

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**Thanks for reading! **  
**P.S. Just because I killed off Tony, doesn't mean I don't like him. I just love to see others care about him and be sad because he is gone;)**


End file.
